2025-12-09 06:36:30The server stiffened at Benjamin’s words, the polite smile on his face freezing like wet paint in cold air. For a moment he stood there stunned, as if he had misheard.
Ryan made a choking sound that turned into a laugh. “The highest tier? Imperial? Benjamin, do you even know what that costs?”
The other students laughed with him.
The server cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. “Sir, perhaps I should repeat the price so there is no misunderstanding. The Imperial service begins at twelve thousand per head. With your group size, that would come to—”
Ryan cut in. “He knows the number. He just doesn’t understand it.”
Benjamin did not look away from the server. “I said Imperial.”
Gasps moved through the group.
The server blinked slowly, then inclined his head. “Very well, sir. If you insist.”
But before he could finish inputting the selection on his tablet, Ryan let out a hard breath. “Hold on. Hold on.” He stepped forward with a swagger that bounced off the marble floors. “Benjamin, you do realize how this works, right? We agreed to split the bill.”
Benjamin nodded. “I recall.”
“So if you pick Imperial, half of that falls on you.” Ryan snickered. “You really think you can afford that?”
Benjamin lifted one shoulder. “Of course. Though I wonder if you can."
Something flickered behind Ryan’s smirk. It wasn’t anger or pride. It was hesitation. A quick, thin line of uncertainty that slipped through before he could hide it.
He covered it with a laugh. “Fine. Then I’ll pick first. If you want to act like a big spender, let’s see how you handle it.”
He turned to the server. “Bring your best vintage wine. Premium—the one that costs two thousand.” He shot Benjamin a sideways sneer. “Let everyone here taste how real luxury feels.”
The server nodded and entered the order.
Benjamin raised an eyebrow. Then he tapped the menu on the tablet. “Five thousand. I’ll take the next tier.”
Ryan’s neck snapped toward him. “Are you serious?”
Benjamin didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
Someone behind Ryan choked on their own breath. “Five thousand. For a bottle. He’s mad.”
Ryan leaned in with a low whisper. “Where are you getting the money? Did you take loans? Or did you borrow from people who don’t know any better?”
“You can think whatever you like,” Benjamin said.
Ryan laughed in disbelief. “I can't believe you would take on debt just to go against me?”
Benjamin’s eyes met his. “I have no reason not to.”
A small twitch pulled at the corner of Ryan’s jaw. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s see whose money runs out first. My funds or your borrowing power.”
He stepped away and pulled out his phone. His fingers flew across the screen as he dialed. The call connected after a few rings.
“Dad,” Ryan said, lowering his voice but not enough to hide the desperation creeping in. “I need you to transfer some money to me.”
There was a pause. A long one.
Then excitement seemed to fill Ryan’s face. “Yes. Yes, it’s to humiliate him. I’m putting him in his place.” Another pause. Ryan’s grin widened. “Sure. Send it. I’ll make it worth it.”
The call ended. His phone chimed almost instantly with a notification.
Ryan spun around with renewed confidence. “Time to raise the stakes.” He slapped the server’s tablet twice. “Ten thousand bottle. Open one for everyone here. Let’s see him keep up.”
A few gasps echoed through the lobby. Everyone looked starstruck, like they were watching history.
The server looked between them. “Sir, that is a very large amount.”
“I know,” Ryan said proudly. “Do it.”
Benjamin didn’t blink. He simply tapped the same wine on the screen. “One for every person at the table.”
The air froze.
Someone grabbed Ryan’s arm. “Is he crazy?”
Ryan’s breath came out in a tight hiss. “He is. Completely.”
He pointed at the server. “Cancel all of that. No wine. None of it.”
Before the server could react, Benjamin stepped forward with a calmness that tightened the entire room.
“No,” Benjamin said. “You will not cancel anything.”
Ryan bristled. “And, who do you think you are to tell me what to do?”
Benjamin moved so fast the sound cracked. His hand struck Ryan’s cheek hard, and the impact echoed across the marble floor. Ryan staggered back, eyes wide, mouth open in silent shock.
Benjamin’s voice stayed steady. “I am the one hosting today. You don’t get to cancel anything.”
A heavy silence followed. No one moved. No one breathed.
Chris stared like he had witnessed a public execution. A few of the frat boys traded looks that held both fear and fascination.
Then, one voice broke through. “Don’t cancel it,” someone drawled with full amusement. “Wasn’t Ryan bragging all week about how rich he is?”
More voices joined. “Yeah, don’t cancel. What happened to that confidence?”
“Thought you were the prince of this campus."
“Yeah, don't tell me this broke guy is richer than you, Prince.”
Their laughter built. None of them cared about the price since none of them were paying.
Ryan stood stiff, eyes burning, but he didn’t slap back. Not with the weight of humiliation pressing down on him.
The group followed the server to a private dining hall. The space shimmered with hanging lights and velvet-lined walls. Golden cutlery gleamed against white porcelain plates. The group threw themselves into their seats, already buzzing with excitement.
Benjamin sat near the center. Ryan dropped into the seat across from him, face stiff and pale. Sweat clung to the back of his neck. He looked like someone pushed to the edge of a cliff.
Course after course arrived. Platters of seafood that cost more than a month’s rent. Sides plated like works of art. Wines that sparkled under the chandeliers.
Only one person couldn’t enjoy any of it.
Ryan.
The others laughed, toasted, took pictures. They devoured everything in sight because why wouldn’t they. This wasn’t their problem.
Ryan forced bites past his tightening throat. He wiped his hands repeatedly on the napkin. “This is insane,” he muttered. “There is no way he can pay half of this.”
The server reappeared after dessert with a tablet in hand.
“Here is the final bill.” His voice carried the weight of the number. “Seven hundred thousand in total.”
The room went quiet. Every laugh, every clink, every whisper stopped.
Ryan swallowed hard. His voice came out strained. “Three hundred fifty thousand. There is no way he can borrow that much. I don’t care how many loan apps he tries.”
He pointed at Benjamin. “Let’s see you try to cover your share.”
Benjamin did not argue. He did not talk back. He simply reached into his pocket, pulled out his bank card, and handed it to the server.
The room erupted in whispers.
“He’s still pretending.”
“No way it works.”
“He’s finished.”
Ryan leaned forward, bracing for triumph.
The server held the card. He looked at Benjamin again. Then he swiped.
A few seconds ticked by.
Then the small machine beeped.
The server blinked. Then he straightened with perfect posture. “Payment complete.”
The entire room fell silent.
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Latest Chapter
Chapter 210
Spring arrived at Memoville without announcement.Not suddenly. Not dramatically. It didn’t behave like an event. It behaved like a correction that had taken its time to arrive, as if the campus had been slightly misaligned for months and had finally eased back into place without anyone agreeing it should.The air changed first. Movement through the campus no longer felt like pushing against something invisible. Conversations started earlier, ended later. People lingered in doorways instead of passing through them quickly.Benjamin noticed it from the window of the Golden Front.He had been standing there longer than usual, coffee in hand, watching the city wake up in layers.He realized, without emphasis, that nothing in him was rushing.That was new.Not peace.The Mercury Corporation board call began at nine.Martha Matthews appeared on screen precisely on time, as she always did, with a calm expression on her face.The agenda moved quickly. Reports were delivered. Questions were
Chapter 209
Two weeks after the clause execution, Terence Lin attempted to contest the revocation through external legal channels.The filing arrived on a Monday morning.Martha Matthews brought the notice into Benjamin’s office at Mercury Corporation with a calm expression on her face and was annoyed only by the paperwork it created.“They filed in commercial court,” she said, dropping the documents on his desk. “Improper execution claim. Abuse of discretionary authority. Procedural unfairness.” A pause. “None of it is strong.”Benjamin skimmed the filing once.The argument was carefully written, but the problem remained obvious: the clause was airtight. Every procedural step had been followed precisely. Every notification had been documented.The challenge had nowhere stable to stand.“How long?” Benjamin asked.“Not long,” Martha said. “They’re testing whether pressure creates hesitation.”Benjamin closed the file.“It won’t.”And it didn’t.Four days later the challenge was withdrawn quietly,
Chapter 208
Terence Lin’s reply did not arrive through the formal channel.That alone was enough to tell Benjamin what kind of response it would be.The Mercury Corporation legal inbox remained untouched that morning. No acknowledgment of the clause. Instead, Martha received a call through a secondary contact, an associate of the Lin family requesting “clarification” and, more importantly, a meeting.Benjamin read the summary once and set the page down.“He’s trying to create a conversation where none exists,” Martha said.“It’s delay,” Benjamin replied.“Or leverage.”He glanced at the message again. “There is no leverage in a closed clause.”Martha waited a moment before saying, “Or he’s used to clauses that behave like suggestions.”Benjamin leaned back slightly, gaze drifting toward the city beyond the window.“Decline the meeting,” he said. “Formal notice only. Restate that the clause is non-negotiable.”Martha nodded. “And Lin?”“He’ll escalate.”“Then we stay aligned.”She gathered the pap
Chapter 207
Thursday arrived with the feeling of something already decided.At 8:17 a.m., Martha Matthews sent a single message:Countersignature complete.Benjamin read it once in silence.Then replied:Proceed.He didn’t linger on the screen afterward. The phone was placed face down beside his notebook, as if it had already finished its job for the morning.The notifications went out at 9:03 a.m.Two recipients.Two systems receiving the reality at the exact same moment.Terence Lin. Ryan Lawson.The Mercury Corporation dispatch protocol didn’t make it to the delivery. It didn’t announce the importance. It simply ensured receipt, verification, and acknowledgment.Each file contained the same architecture:Clause reference: Primary Ownership Governance Provision (Section 3)Declaration of ownership authorityFormal review summaryEvidence index (transactional, behavioral, structural)Seven-day acknowledgment window prior to executionAnd beneath it all, a signature:Benjamin Wayne, Primary Owner
Chapter 206
The document arrived at eight the following morning, but the office had already been awake for an hour.Mercury Corporation didn’t really “start” its day so much as tighten into it. Systems came online in layers. Reports updated. Screens refreshed.Benjamin was already at his desk when Martha Matthews entered.She didn’t speak immediately. That alone told him this wasn’t routine.She placed a thick folder on the desk and sat across from him with the stillness of someone who had already read it twice and was now waiting for him to do the same.“Legal framework for clause activation,” she said.Benjamin nodded once and opened it.The first pages were procedural architecture: definitions of authority, confirmation of ownership, jurisdictional grounding. Clean corporate language. The kind that existed so no one could later claim confusion.He read quickly until he didn’t.The third section slowed him.Not because it was unclear.Because it wasn’t.He read it once.Then again, more deliber
Chapter 205
The document arrived on Benjamin’s desk at Mercury Corporation on a Tuesday morning.That was usually how important things arrived.No announcement. No ceremony. Just paper.Martha Matthews placed the folder in front of him without a word. Cream-colored. Heavy stock. The Mercury Corporation letterhead printed at the top like a declaration on paper.She didn’t sit immediately. She waited.That alone made Benjamin look up.Martha only did that when something does not sit right.“Read the third section,” she said.Benjamin opened the folder.The first pages were standard corporate language—structure definitions, ownership clarifications, boilerplate clauses designed to make lawyers comfortable and auditors bored. He skimmed them with practiced efficiency, eyes moving faster as the material proved unremarkable.Then he slowed.Third section.His gaze stopped there.He read it once.Then again.Not because he didn’t understand it—but because he did.The words didn’t change on the second re
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